1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a conveyor system for lifting and orienting bottle caps and more particularly, to lifting and orienting bottle caps through a conveyor with a lower loading zone and a vertical lifting zone which is 11 adjustable to the needs of the run.
2. Description of the Background Art
In the past, caps, container closures, and crowns with a diameter greater than height, were oriented during feeding by changing the angle of an inclined cleated conveyor. This angle change caused incorrectly oriented caps to fall from the cleat and back into a hopper at a loading zone. Incorrectly oriented caps are considered to be those with the open side toward the conveyor belt. Correctly oriented caps are considered to be those having the open side away from the conveyor belt.
The standard for many years was to begin with an angle at about 25 degree from the vertical angle for increased pickup of caps. The angle change was 20 degrees to an angle of 5 degrees from vertical. This method worked fine for large diameter closures. As the diameter of the closures being conveyed decreases, and the height also decreases, the angle change becomes critical for consistent orientation. Several procedures were tried in attempts to compensate for this. The present invention is a device for varying the angle on all cleated conveyor style cap orientors and feeders. The assembly can be installed on an existing inclined cleated conveyor type orientor to vary the angle.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an improvement which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the oral inflation art.
Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved conveying system for lifting and orienting bottle caps comprising a conveyer belt which is formed of articulated sections and with guide rollers to support the belt with an upper lifting section having an essentially vertical path of travel and a lower loading section with an angled path of travel. Also included are sprockets on the guide rollers to effect movement of the belt in an upward path of travel through the lower section and then the upper section. Further included is a plurality of cleats secured to the exterior surface of the conveyer belts. The cleats have supporting surfaces which extend at a generally right angles from the exterior surface of the conveyor belt each cleat being of a generally rectangular cross section with an upper face and a lower face and with an interior face therebetween wherein the upper cap supporting surface having a trough for retaining bottle caps thereon in a proper orientation when the upper surface of the bottle cap is in contact with the conveyer belt and the lower edge thereof supported on the supporting surfaces of the cleats but to effect the rejecting thereof when the bottle caps are not in the proper orientation. Also included is a supplemental sprocket in contact with the interior face of the conveyer belt in the lower extent of the upper section to form an outwardly directed bow in the belt and effect the removal, by gravity, of bottle caps not in the proper orientation. Further included are adjustment means to vary the extent of the bow as a function of the particular bottle cap being conveyed.
It is a further object of the invention to bow the lower end of a vertical conveyor for rejecting improperly oriented caps.
It is a further object of the invention to vary the extent of a conveyor bow as a function of the caps being conveyed.
The foregoing has outlined some of the pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
For the purpose of summarizing this invention, this invention comprises a new and improved conveying system for lifting and orienting bottle caps, container closures, and crowns comprising a conveyer belt which is formed of articulated sections and with guide rollers to support the belt with an upper lifting section having an essentially vertical path of travel and a lower loading section with an angled path of travel. Also included are sprockets on the guide rollers to effect movement of the belt in an upward path of travel through the lower section and then the upper section. Further included is a plurality of cleats secured to the exterior surface of the conveyer belts. The cleats have supporting surfaces which extend at a generally right angles from the exterior surface of the conveyer belt, each cleat being of a generally rectangular cross section with an upper face and a lower face and with an interior face therebetween wherein the upper cap supporting surface having a trough with a sloped interior recess in contact with a lower hemispherical region for retaining bottle caps, container closures, and crowns thereon in a proper orientation when the upper surface of the bottle cap is in contact with the conveyer belt and the lower edge thereof supported on the supporting surfaces of the cleats but to effect the rejecting thereof when the bottle caps are not in the proper orientation. The lowermost extent of the hemispherical region being closer to the front face than to the rear face, the cleat also has a plurality of bores extending from the front face to the rear face where they can be coupled to the conveyer belt by means of a screw. Also included is a supplemental sprocket in contact with the interior face of the conveyer belt in the lower extent of the upper section to form an outwardly directed bow in the belt and effect the removal, by gravity, of bottle caps not in the proper orientation. Further included are adjustment means to vary the extent of the bow as a function of the particular bottle cap being conveyed. Further included is a plate positioned in close proximity to the cleats in the region of the conveyer belt beneath the bow whereby bottle caps on the conveyer belt may drop under gravity into the hopper due to the orientation of the bow. Still further included is a source of pressurized air adjacent to the upper extent of the upper section at one lateral side of the belt to pneumatically urge bottle caps to the opposite lateral side of the belt with a chute to receive the pneumatically conveyed bottle caps while maintaining their proper orientation. A hopper is also included for a quantity of randomly oriented bottle caps adjacent to the lower section of the conveyer belt for the initial positioning of bottle caps on the conveyer belt prior to movement to the bow. Further included is a shield which has a raised central extent parallel with the direction of flow of the conveyor belt and positioned over the lower loading section whereby bottle caps dropped thereon will limit movement of the caps onto the conveyor except at the leading edge of the plate.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the more pertinent and important features of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood so that the present contribution to the art can be more fully appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.